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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23302711">A Galaxy Between Us</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DroppedAllTheseOreos/pseuds/DroppedAllTheseOreos'>DroppedAllTheseOreos</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kamen Rider Ex-Aid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Space, Eventual Relationships, Gen, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 13:00:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,621</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23302711</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DroppedAllTheseOreos/pseuds/DroppedAllTheseOreos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Emu's a new member of an Ex-Aid team with the Japanese Space Foundation. He's excited and starry-eyed at finally achieving his dream of going to space, but the crew he's put with is the embodiment of chaos.</p><p>Also he's terrified of the medbay nurse.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Graphite/Houjou Emu, Momose Saki &amp; Kagami Hiiro</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Galaxy Between Us</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This au is one of the first things Cherry/Agacerie and I worked on after we met like two years ago lol. It's still one of our favorite aus. Finally got the motivation and I feel practiced enough with writing to start putting out bits and pieces of it.</p><p>Also we never really named the spaceship, so I just swiped Ex-Aid since it's short for Extreme Aid and they're kind of like an emergency rescue/exploration team.</p><p>Also, also, also, This fic is a one shot for now, since I have the With Philip Exchange going on, and a couple other wips, but I'll get to the actual ships eventually. The spirit of space au just struck me hard and I wanted to get it out there.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Emu was introduced to Ex-Aid unit 016, his first impression was that they needed more saving than anyone who would've requested their help. There were barely any crew members, and he wouldn't call any of them functional. They had a pilot who had to be more preoccupied with the ship's malicious AI and containing them than actually flying. They had three gunners for some reason, and they were always fighting with each other. Emu couldn't even imagine how they'd be in actual combat. The ship's mechanic seemed the most competent and capable out of all of them, but she just seemed to like goofing off with the pilot in the guts of the ship, helping him deal with their rogue AI. And then there was the medbay team, who he'd be working with.</p><p>The first member he met was Momose Saki, who seemed pleasant enough. Still, Emu quickly grew concerned with her nonchalance towards danger as she introduced him to the rest of the crew.</p><p>
"So, there's a rogue AI on this ship, and it's trying to kill us all?" He asked nervously as they came up from the ship's core room, where Saki just finished introducing him to Kiriya and Poppy.</p><p>
"Yeah, that's just Kuroto."</p><p>"You named them?" Emu winced.</p><p>"Nah, he named himself. Chose pronouns and everything! But on a sadder note, did you know seventeen crews died on this ship before us? It's because of him." She shrugged with that same serene grin she greeted Emu with when he stepped on the ship. "No one could figure out what kept killing them until we were assigned this craft, and Kiriya went straight to the mainframe and started tearing things apart. Metaphorically, of course. Like, code and stuff, to keep Kuroto out of ship functions with firewalls and all that. It mostly goes over my head whenever I talk with him."</p><p>Emu balked at the fuckton of info she just dropped on him, almost tripping over his feet, trying to keep up with her on the way to medbay.</p><p>When they arrived, Emu was expecting medbay to be as much of a chaotic mess as the rest of the ship. The doors slid open, and he grimaced, but the expression was quickly replaced with wide-eyed wonder at how pristine medbay was. A man with warm brown hair was doing inventory on the medical supplies. He looked kind of regal, very nice posture, serious expression with calm, cool eyes.</p><p>
"Hiiro!" Saki strolled into the room, "This is Hojo Emu! Fresh meat's gonna be working with us first!"</p><p>
Emu made a face at being called 'fresh meat,' but followed her in, stopping a few feet away from her and the other doctor. </p><p>Hiiro barely looked up from the tablet he was taking notes down on, "Not with the pilot and mechanic first? They seem like they need the most help."</p><p>Any grace Hiiro held in Emu's eyes was slightly tarnished by his refusal to use his crew members' names. Maybe Kiriya and Poppy had done something to him specifically, but it was still uncomfortable to hear.</p><p>"HQ said we should start him off easy, so it's either us or putting him into Taiga's daycare. So, you almost done with everything here? Let's get lunch so I can show Emu the canteen!" Saki rested her chin on Hiiro's shoulder to look at the tablet. He shrugged his shoulder to shove her head off, but she just wrapped her arms around his middle with a cackle. It was only a moment, but Emu caught the flicker of a smile on Hiiro's face, before Saki's hair covered his view when she put her head back on his shoulder.</p><p>"You know, this would go more efficiently if I didn't have someone clinging to me."</p><p>"Do you need your tummy to do inventory? It's the only thing I'm holding down.</p><p>They seemed close. Maybe they were dating. That wouldn't explain all the blushing and stuttering Saki did when Poppy ran up to greet them in the core. Unless she was with both Poppy and Hiiro? Or dating Hiiro, but hadn't asked Poppy out yet? Emu shook his head, trying to brush the thoughts aside for now. The relationships on this ship were pretty confusing, and he'd have plenty of time to figure them out later.</p><p>"Intern, you're pretty rude, aren't you?" Hiiro suddenly said.</p><p>"Who, Wh-what, me?" Emu frantically pointed to himself.</p><p>"Oh my god, Hiiro, it's chill." Saki groaned, releasing Hiiro and stepping back.</p><p>"You should introduce yourself instead of letting Saki do all the work." Hiiro finally turned to him and made eye contact.</p><p>This guy... Emu thought to himself. "Well, it looked like you two were having a moment, so I didn't want to interrupt."</p><p>"See, he's polite, Hiiro," Saki gestured to Emu.</p><p>Hiiro just made a skeptical hum and set the tablet aside, striding towards the door with confidence.</p><p>Saki whispered conspiratorially to Emu, "Don't worry, he's just like that. You get used to it."</p><p>"You're... You look very used to it." Emu nodded slowly.</p><p>Saki grinned at him. "Yeah, he's my ex." Emu blinked, stunned again as she pranced to the door turning back to him when she got there. "C'mon, you've gotta be hungry, right? Unless you ate before you came on board?"</p><p>Emu's stomach decided to audibly growl at that moment, and Saki laughed. "Guess not."</p><p>The canteen was surprisingly well-kept, just like medbay. Emu must've said that out loud because Hiiro gave him a confused look and said, "Of course, cleanliness in food safety is just as important as in medical practice."</p><p>The three of them sat down and were able to introduce Emu properly to Hiiro, sharing stories about why they wanted to go to space and college stories of studying astronomy and medicine. About halfway through their meal, a man came through the door leading to the weapons bay. His hair and upper body were drenched in what Emu hoped was water, making his black tank top cling to his chest. What Emu could see of his jumpsuit looked drenched too, and it was half unzipped, with the arms tied around his waist.</p><p>"Graphite! Hey! Come meet the new guy!" Saki called out, waving him down, at the same time Hiiro mumbled a "What happened to you?" loud enough to be heard in the quiet of the canteen.</p><p>He turned and glared in their direction, giving Emu a full view of him, almost making him drop his chopsticks at seeing his sculpted arms and the way the wet clothing clung to him.</p><p>"Parad and Nico dumped water on me because they thought I was Taiga." He grunted, snapping Emu out of his daze. He held up his right arm, initially hidden by the angle he entered the room and somehow completely missed in Emu's once over. The forearm was prosthetic, red paint fading and chipping from dark grey metal in some places, making whirring and clicking noises as the fingers twitched and spasmed. "Got in the fucking joints." His eyes turned to Emu, and his gaze was piercing, making Emu shrink back in his seat.</p><p>Graphite's eyes narrowed at him, assessing for a moment before he snorted derisively and stalked off towards medbay.</p><p>They watched him go, and Emu hurriedly started eating again to hide his embarrassment.</p><p>"You'll be seeing him a lot more while you're with us." Hiiro said coolly. "He's our nurse."</p><p>Emu spluttered, choking on his mouthful of udon and dropped his chopsticks, spattering his broth everywhere and sending his noodles flopping all over his lunch tray.<em>"Him?" </em>He wheezed, reaching for his water to clear his throat.</p><p>Saki handed him some of her paper towels to help him clean up, "Aah, don't let him worry you too much. He thinks he's tough, but he's really sweet deep down. Be persistent and be yourself, worst he can do is hit you, and when he does that, hit him right back, he'll respect you."</p><p>Emu spewed his drink out, "What?!"</p><p>Saki just shrugged, sopping up the new mess with the already soaked paper towels, "It's what I did. He likes fighting, I think he misses it being in medbay all the time. Did you know he was a former soldier? Like, technically combat medic, but just between the three of us, I think they just gave him that title without any proper training. I guess they tend to be a little rougher when they earn respect for each other."</p><p>"It's asinine and reckless," Hiiro added.</p><p>"Yet you haven't punched him, and he still doesn't respect you despite being the head of medbay. We don't have enough solid data, but so far all of it points towards me being right." Saki teased. "Maybe you can help us get a definitive answer, Emu."</p><p>Emu was still reeling and could only exclaim, "He <em>hit </em>you?"</p><p>"Well, hit's a strong word," Saki shrugged.</p><p>"She was asking for it, in a way," Hiiro took a derisive sip of tea.</p><p>Emu just shook his head, blinking rapidly at Saki, who shrugged again. "Yeah, I got a little too in his face when we were arguing over how to treat a patient," she said simply. "He pushed me, and I punched him in the face, and he smiled for the first time ever and said we could go with my plan and it worked. Patient saved."</p><p>Emu slumped back in his seat heavily, already exhausted, and he hadn't even made it to the end of the day. Never, in all of Emu's dreams about going to space did he picture it going like this. He wasn't sure he was even going to survive the week in a team like this.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Graphite's arm here is basically the Metal Gear Solid: Phantom Pain one haha</p></blockquote></div></div>
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